Replace. Restore. Sustain
At St. Peter’s, we value warmth. Warm welcomes. Warm receptions. Warm wishes. We want our parishioners, tenants and visitors to feel loved and secure. The upcoming retirement of our original heating system allows us to look back warmly on nearly 70 years of ministry in this building. And it invites us to live into a new era of environmental stewardship that sustains and protects both our parish and the planet.
You can invest in that future through St. Peter’s two-year Warm Regards Campaign, where we aim to
Raise $150,000 for our new boiler system.
Develop ways to reduce our carbon footprint and ensure a sustainable future.
Celebrate the energy that fuels our ministries.
Replacing our Boilers
Currently our two-boiler heating system, which runs on a combination of oil and gas, is not functioning fully and can no longer be repaired. That’s led to some chilly church services in the height of this past winter. The Vestry has approved funding a new energy efficient system. Work removing the old boilers and installing three super-efficient ones will occur in June and August. The first down-payment of $50,000 has already been paid from our savings account.
Restoring our Reserves
Paying for this long-overdue system will cost about $150,000. The up-front payments will draw down about half of our savings by the fall. We’ll need to replenish those reserves as quickly as possible to restore funds that supplement the annual budget, pay for future projects and allow us to manage unexpected expenses.
Begin your support by clicking on the button below to donate through an online payment to the energy fund. Or contact the office at stpeter654@gmail.com to request a set of envelopes for enclosing monthly payments by check.
Sustaining our Future
An efficient heating system is just the first step in an ongoing commitment to sustainability. Future improvements that show a warm regard for the environment would include energy efficient windows and doors and alternative fuel sources. Our waste-stream and water use also have an impact on how our parish impacts the environment, as do our transportation choices and our individual energy use habits.
As part of this campaign, we would like to establish an Earth Care Team to help educate on climate justice, develop environmentally sustainable parish practices, and plan and promote future improvements. If you would like to be part of this team, contact Rev. Barb at stpeter654rector@gmail.com.
Sidebar
Let’s call them Frank and Ernest. Behind a closed door at the foot of the stairs leading to KidView these two boilers have been quietly warming more than 70 years of ministry at St. Peter’s.
Frank, who runs on oil, was installed when the building was erected in the early 1950s. He was built at a time when folks thought that oil would remain endlessly cheap and available, and less attention was paid to its damaging effects on the environment. Ernest, powered by natural gas, was installed in the mid-1980s to help lift the heating load as demand increased.
Thankfully heating technology has become much more efficient since they were installed. It is estimated that our investment will save us more than $20,000 a year in fuel costs and will pay for itself in six to eight years.
As you contribute to the Warm Regards campaign, consider it a donation to Frank and Ernest’s retirement fund. We’ll even be planning some festive parish events to send them on their way.
Over the course of the Warm Regards campaign, we’ll show our appreciation for the vibrant ministry that Frank and Ernest helped warm over the years, remembering highlights from each decade of their service. Look to our newsletter, website and Facebook for stories of warmth and welcome spanning the 70 years of the current building.
In the 141 years that St. Peter’s has been a parish, many faith-filled and warm-hearted people have erected not only church buildings but vibrant Christian community. We owe it to them to create and steward sacred and sustainable spaces for generations to come.